United Nations organizations and other groups should stop meddling in Malaysia’s internal affairs, the country’s home minister said Thursday when asked about these agencies criticizing the deportations of Myanmar nationals, including asylum seekers.
Kuala Lumpur would take action against any foreigner who violates Malaysian laws, no matter where they were from, Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin said.
“So, the UNHCR, United Nations or anyone at all, if the people we detain entered the country legally but then violate our laws, we will then send them back. No need for outsiders to interfere,” he told reporters in Kelantan state on Thursday.
Hamzah made the remarks about a week after news broke that Malaysia had deported 150 Myanmar nationals, including defectors from the Burmese military.
The Reuters news agency had reported that the expelled people included six former Myanmar naval officers, who were arrested in September and sent back to Myanmar on Oct. 6. It said at least four of the officers had sought U.N. refugee status in Malaysia and that one officer and his wife were detained upon arrival in Yangon.
They were among more than 2,000 Myanmar nationals deported since April, Human Rights Watch stated in a statement earlier this week.
In defending the government’s action, Hamzah said the deportations were based on international law, adding that Malaysia would not deport any foreigner if their life would be put in jeopardy.
“We will not deport people if they will disappear in their own country or if it would oppress them. We do it based on the international law. So, everyone, every Malaysian must understand this,” he said.
Hamzah was the only Malaysian government official to respond to the U.N. statements.
Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, who for months was seen in ASEAN circles as the most outspoken critic of the military regime in post-coup Myanmar and the biggest ally of the National Unity Government, has kept silent on the issue of the deportations…BenarNews
Peacock Media Communication 